Pure speculation on my part, but I would suspect that the attitude about firearms in general hasn't changed that much. The question specially asked about handguns. In 1959, your typical citizen could walk through town carrying a rifle without a second glance unless the rifle had a particularly nice finish on the stock (in my little region of the country anyway). Handguns were probably seen as the weapon of choice for criminals with something to hide in an era when the law-abiding could carry rifles or shotguns openly.
Pure speculation on my part, but I would suspect that the attitude about firearms in general hasn't changed that much. The question specially asked about handguns. In 1959, your typical citizen could walk through town carrying a rifle without a second glance unless the rifle had a particularly nice finish on the stock (in my little region of the country anyway). Handguns were probably seen as the weapon of choice for criminals with something to hide in an era when the law-abiding could carry rifles or shotguns openly.
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